REDEMPTION
by Zidia
Summary: When some friends on a small Cerberus research facility discover a dangerous threat to the galaxy, they are thrown into an adventure where everything they've ever known is put to question, as time starts running out of them...and on the world. (Note: I don't have a perfect grasp on everything ME related, so if there is a problem, PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I really appreciate it. Thanks!)
1. Chapter 1

"Renata Lordes, where is that research paper I asked for?" Renata turned, fighting the urge to correct the pronunciation of her last name. It was as if everyone assumed that if you spoke English, your name was pronounced exactly to its standards. They neglected to realize that her last name was in fact Spanish in origin, and was pronounced lor_ease_.

Pushing aside the brief aggravation, Renata handed a pale blue folder to the older woman standing now before her. "Right here Ma'am." She replied. She had in fact been trying to search out the head of the science department so she could hand over this very folder. It seemed she'd found Renata first.

The head of this particular Cerberus science facility opened the folder, quickly scanning the contents with a vague frown. "You sure it was phosphorus that you found on that moon?" She asked. Renata nodded. Then realizing that wasn't an acceptable response, she added. "Yes Ma'am. Along with some strange readings that I believe may be Ununtrium." The frown deepened. "Odd." She muttered.

Finally, she closed the blue folder with a snap and handed it back to Renata. "Good work Lordes." She said, and then walked away. Renata heard a snort behind her. "I don't think she'll ever pronounce your last name correctly, _Lordes_." Someone said, carefully pronouncing it correctly.

"Well, I'm glad when anyone pronounces it right, Charlie." Renata said, turning to face her old friend. Charlie Ravenstone was a sweet woman, only a year younger than Renata herself. She had shoulder length auburn hair that created a slight contrast to her olive skin and green eyes.

She was wearing her normal fashion statement, which meant that she was flunking it in any sense of the traditional word. She wore a faded grey shirt and dirty green cargo pants, a large pipe wrench resting over one shoulder, her other hand holding a large metal box that had once been red. Now that most of the paint had fallen off at one occasion or another, it resembled nothing so much as a piece of rusted iron.

It was Charlie's beloved tool box, the one thing she would never part with, no matter how many dents she got in it. She most certainly could use her Omni-tool, and in many occasions she had. However, she would never give up her old fashioned tool box.

"So what have you been up to lately, Renata? Haven't seen you in awhile." Charlie asked, drawing Renata's thoughts away from the tool box.

Renata said. "A bit of exploration mostly. The Head asked me to look at some odd readings on a nearby moon." Mostly everyone referred to the head of the science facility as 'the Head' because she virtually ran the whole facility in all but name. She had an iron strong will, and a temper that might bite your head right off your shoulders if you ignited it. Still, she was generally fair, and a decent leader.

"Ah." Charlie said, nodding thoughtfully. "The science-y stuff." Charlie was good at repairs and a lot of technical stuff, and could talk for hours on things that Renata barely understood at best. However, when it came to science, Charlie admitted she was sadly bereft in knowledge. She often said she'd leave the science to Renata, and take care of the mechanics.

And in mechanics, Charlie was a genius. She often complained that people just didn't respect the older technology, and that the only way to progress forward was to better understand the past. Renata didn't have a clue what Charlie was talking about. However, she had seen Charlie's apartment, and was still unsure at to where Charlie had managed to get her hands on a typewriter.

"You two talking about me behind my back again?" Another voice chimed in. The figure that joined them was a near opposite to Charlie. While Charlie was short and stocky, dark skinned and with short-ish hair, the other woman was a tall, imposing figure with long black hair, pulled back in a loose black braid. Loose hairs scattered around a pale face, with surprisingly sharp blue eyes. Added with her hawkish nose, it gave her the look of a predatory bird.

"Hello there Eden." Charlie said, breaking into a wider grin. "And yes, we were talking about your absolutely _terrible_ sense of fashion."

Charlotte Eden smiled slightly at the gibe. She was in fact, wearing a standard Cerberus uniform, much like Renata's own. "_I'm_ the one with terrible fashion? I seem to recall that situation last summer when you were accused being the reason the fashion police can't yet retire."

Charlie managed to somehow wave her large wrench nonchalantly. "Well you know the problem with high fashion. No one appreciates the genius in their midst." Renata couldn't help it. She laughed. The other two joined in. They always like to poke at each other about fashion.

"So what's this I hear about a moon exploration I wasn't invited on?" Eden asked, pretending to pout. Renata rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

"Wasn't exactly a choice I could make, Eden." She told her. The Head had hand-picked everyone for the mission. "If you want to complain, talk to The Head. I'm sure she'd _love_ to hear it." Eden gave Renata a bit of a glare. She knew _exactly _how much the Head would enjoy hearing a complaint. Not one bit.

"Well that's not the only reason I'm here." Eden admitted. "I'm trying to round the gang up." She hesitated a moment, as if unsure what to say. Finally she continued. "There's something I overheard the Head talk about, and I want to talk to everyone about it."

Charlie whistled softly. Listening into conversations, especially if they involved the Head, was a bad idea in her book. However, the worried look on Eden's face seemed to convey that whatever she wanted to talk about was more important than the scolding Charlie had been about to give her.

"What is it?" Renata asked, curious as ever. She might never dare to listen in on any of the Head's conversations, but that didn't mean she had the same feeling about it as Charlie did. Charlie, sensing this, gave Renata a warning glare. Renata studiously ignored it.

Eden inclined her head in one direction, motioning for the two of them to follow her. She was silent as she led the down the corridors of the building, finally reaching the doors. The slid quietly open for her, opening up to the vast desert plane. The wind blew emptily across the sandy expanse, revealing a series of figures sitting and standing in the middle of the research camp.

As they got closer, Renata started to recognize them. Ethan Black, Rachel Richards, Lisa Corinors, Daniel Leevers, they were essentially the circle of friends Renata and the others had come to know and trust. They had formed an inexplicable bond of friendship and trust, something none of them took lightly.

Seeing the three of them coming, Ethan stood, wincing slightly. He had recently injured himself falling into a hole while running from one of the planet's less than friendly inhabitance. Luckily, his fall had saved his life. However, his leg was still sore to move sometimes.

Ignoring this, he crossed his arms across his chest, staring at Eden. While Eden was tall, he was taller still, towering over the others present, his brown eyes curious, yet still glaring. "Ok Eden. You've kept us out in this miserable heat for awhile now. What's going on?"

Eden looked at all the faces surrounding her, all mirroring the same open curiosity. She sighed inwardly. She looked from one face to the next, and began her story.

"I overheard a bit of a conversation between the Head and another person, called himself something strange, Illusive Man or something. Sounded like he belonged in a circus." She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "He-_they_, were talking about something, it sounded dangerous, but I could tell they were very interested. They said something about controlling it, I think. But I wasn't able to hear everything." She chewed her bottom lip dreading her next words. "He called it a Reaper."

"Reaper?" Lisa stated flatly. "We're in this burning heat because you overheard someone talking about the grim reaper?"

"That's not it!" Eden shot back. She hadn't expected this response. "It sounded dangerous. _Highly_ dangerous."

"Could it be a weapon or something?" Ethan suggested, trying to find a way to sooth tempers. Renata however, wasn't listening to anything going on. Reapers? Where had she seen that word before? She'd been sure she'd seen something…If only she could remember!

Daniel too, looked thoughtful. "I thought I read something about Reapers before." He said, drumming his fingers thoughtfully on the stone formation he was lying against. Renata nodded at him. "Me too." She confirmed.

Eden looked hopeful, but Daniel shook his head. "I don't remember for sure. I'm going to have to hack into the Alliance database again. Charlie snorted, managing somehow to sound aghast. Hacking into someone's private database was almost as bad as listening into the Head's conversations. That fact that he planned to do _because_ Eden had listened in made it no better.

Renata however, was nodding. "Good idea." She said, once again ignoring Charlie's glare. "I'll check out some of the science databases and see if I can dig anything up."

Eden now felt better for the first time since she'd mentioned the conversation. "And I'll see if the Head drops anymore hints."

Charlie threw up her hands in disbelief. She seemed to be the only one with a lick of sense among them. "And what would happen if someone were to find out?" She exclaimed. Eden eyed her dubiously.

"Then I guess we won't get caught, shall we?"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I want to note that I'm trying to post these every three weeks. Unfortunately, that gets messed up a bit when I forget to bring my flashdrive to the Library. Sorry about that._

* * *

Renata didn't see much of her friends for the rest of the week. Charlie was off repairing something, Renata wasn't sure what. However, the last time she'd seen her friend, she'd been grumbling something about some 'idiot creatures who don't seem to know not to bite iron'.

Lisa and Eden were off on a mission scaring off some curious locals. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue. However, last Renata heard, these locals were cannibalistic.

Rachel and Dan had disappeared off somewhere after their conversation, and Renata hadn't seen hide nor hair of either of them since.

She herself was still busy. The Head had asked her to continue research into the moon she'd been sent to study. In the three years she'd been working with Cerberus, Renata had learned that a suggestion from the Head was essentially an order.

So she found herself sorting through databases, looking for information she could pull together for another report, while at the same time, looking for some information on these 'Reapers' Eden had mentioned. So far, she'd turned up dry, and she was beginning to feel that she'd dreamed about previously finding the information. After hours and hours of fruitless search, Renata was ready to give up.

Of course, that's when Dan showed up.

"I found it!" He exclaimed. Renata blinked at him in confusion. She'd been half-way through a paper on meitnerium, and for a moment was unsure of what he was talking about.

He pushed something in front of her, and Renata started reading. After a moment, a chill went down her spine, she turned back to Dan. "You sure about this?" He nodded. At least now Renata knew why her searches had turned up empty. She'd been looking for some sort of weapon, like Ethan had suggested, or a new race.

However, if what Daniel had found was correct, Reapers were something a lot more dangerous than a new race. Because according to his information, the Citadel Council had been destroyed by a single Reaper.

Renata knew better than to doubt Dan's sources. She was positive he'd taken then straight from the Citadel itself.

"So." She said, trying to keep the fear in her voice under control. "Synthetic creature, vaguely hand-like, shoots forth a deadly red beam of energy, am I missing anything?"

Dan nodded. "According to another report I found, top secret by the way, a new human Spectre, named Shepard, told the Council that the Reapers also have a form of mind manipulation, slowly turning someone to do whatever they want." By now, Renata was visible shaken.

"Do I want to know how you got your hands on top secret information?" She asked drily. Dan shook his head grinning. "Nope. However, this does prove Eden's case. Reapers _are_ dangerous."

Renata nodded. "I'll see if I can find more information. However, already I doubt the sanity of whoever thinks they can control one of those things."

Dan's smile faded as they realized just what exactly they'd stumbled across. Suddenly. His Omni-tool started flashing red. He started, then growled, fingers flying across the screen. "Damn it." He growled. "I just tripped some virtual alarms. Knew things were going too easy." He ran off, flashing light following.

Renata turned back to her work, hoping to find some more information on Reapers. And then…? She wasn't sure yet, but she felt that she needed to let the Head know what was going on.

With shaking hands, she returned to work.

Five hours later, Renata wanted to hide.

She hadn't found that much information connected to Reapers, but what she had was scary enough.

Apparently, the first recorded sighting was at the Citadel, the day the Council had died. They also seemed to be somehow linked to some strange, creatures called Husks that continuously made Renata think of all the things she'd seen about zombies.

She'd found little else on the matter, except a few tidbits, and some high security codes that she'd been unable to decrypt. However, those tidbits had made Renata very fascinated in Reapers. Apparently, they were more than the machines she'd originally believed them to be. They were sophisticated, and _very_ dangerous.

"Have you finished that report Lordes?" A voice demanded from behind Renata. Once again, the Head had mispronounced her last name. This time however, Renata felt no need to correct her. Funny how things can change one's perspective.

"Not yet Ma'am." Renata answered, turning to face her. The Head grunted in discontent, waving the comment away. "Well, you better change that Lordes. I've got enough people tarrying these days. I don't need you to start too."

"Yes Ma'am." Renata responded. She almost brought up the whole Reaper issue, but decided it was better to wait until she had compiled the information better.

However, a day later, Renata found contacting the Head was next to impossible. As it was, one or both of them were too busy to really give Renata the chance to breach the subject of the Reapers.

The opportunity to give the Head the information presented itself two days later. Renata met her in the halls. She'd been on her way to meet Eden and Lisa, who'd just returned from their 'peace keeping' expedition.

"Ah, Renata Lordes. Have you finished that report yet?"

"Yes Ma'am" Renata said, rummaging around in her bag that she always kept with her. She came out with another pale blue folder, and handed it to the Head. She then pulled out another folder, and handed that too, to the Head.

She frowned, accepting the second one. "What's this, Lordes?" Renata motioned for her to open it.

"Something that might interest you Ma'am." She responded. The Head flipped it open, scanning the contents, which involved everything Renata had so far found about Reapers. As she scanned it, her frown deepening. Finally, she closed it and handed it back to Renata.

"Where did you learn of this?" She demanded. Renata hesitated. She had the feeling mentioning Eden's involvement in it wouldn't be a good move. "I ran across it in my research." She lied.

"Well don't run across it anymore, Lordes. Understood?" Renata nodded. The Head searched her face for a moment. Finally, reaching a decision on something, she nodded and added. "Carry on." Before walking away.

Renata pondered over the last few moments of their conversation. Something was certainly wrong, she could tell that. But she had the feeling things were going to get worse long before they got any better.

It wasn't long before she found out just how bad they were getting.


	3. Chapter 3

"You did _what?"_ Eden exclaimed. Renata shrugged. She figured her plans to tell the Head wouldn't have gone over well with the others. That's why she'd done it first, so they wouldn't have been able to stop her. She might not have the same morality issues as Charlie, but that didn't mean she thought keeping the Head in the dark was a good idea. "Don't worry, Eden." Renata told her. "I made sure she doesn't have a clue you listened in on anything. She thinks I just randomly ran across the information."

"And this makes me feel better…how?" Eden said sarcastically. "Why did you warn the Head we knew _anything_ about these things?" After she'd heard what exactly Reapers were, Eden had begun referring to them as 'things'.

"As I said, the Head doesn't know '_we're'_ involved at all. She doesn't even know there is a '_we'_ to _get_ involved in the first place." Renata reminded her. She glanced around at the others. They were sitting in Daniel's room, a few hours after the incident. Renata still wasn't completely sure as to what had taken place in those few short minutes with the Head. "At this point, I'm the only one she knows is involved with anything."

"Still wasn't a good idea, Renata." Ethan put in.

"I'll say it-" Charlie clapped a hand over Eden's mouth before she could continue. "I think we get your point Eden." She told her pointedly. Nodding at Ethan, she added. "Let's let tall boy over there finish his thought, eh?"

Ethan nodded his thanks. "As I was saying: it wasn't a good idea, Renata. That said, I can understand why you did it." He held his hand up to forestall Renata's next words and continued. "_However_ you should have brought it up to us first." He looked her right in the eyes before adding. "We're your friends for a reason."

Everyone in the room nodded at Ethan's words. Renata realized he was right. She sat down in one of the chairs. "You're right." She admitted. "I just thought you wouldn't let me, and I knew I'd never live it down, no matter to consequences, if I didn't tell the Head." She looked up at Eden at this point. "You said yourself that she was involved with the eluding guy, and I felt she needed to know what she was getting into."

"Illusive Man." Eden corrected absently. "But if you could find those files on those things without unscrambling any codes, why did you think the Head couldn't, or hadn't already done the same?"

Renata shrugged self consciously. She had in fact forgotten that fact. She had been so focused on informing the Head of the dangers she was getting into, that she had neglected to notice some of those key factors. "Good point." She allowed.

"And _this_ is why you should have come to us first." Rachel told her, absently toying with her long, black ponytail. Renata smiled ruefully. She was right, of course.

"So what do we do now?" Lisa asked mildly. It was the question on everyone's mind. Now voiced aloud, the question seemed like a physical weight, pressing upon them.

"Well, I'm not supposed to look at any more files that involve Reapers." Renata said. "But the Head never disallowed anyone else in the room." She grinned mischievously. She wasn't the only one. Eden chuckled evilly at the suggestion. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's find some classified information!"

Charlie still looked downright scandalized at the suggestion, but everyone still moved quickly enough, scattering off to do their own respectable areas of research. Charlie shook her head and muttered. "If anyone expects me to go into classified databases, they're crazier than a pack of wild monkeys!" Still shaking her head, she wandered off towards her quarters.

Renata watched her go. While Charlie might continually complain about rule-breaking they were commencing, Renata knew she would never betray them. It was what bound them all together, this unfailing trust in each other. No matter how much she didn't like it, Charlie still knew the importance of what they were doing.

Shaking off such thoughts, Renata started heading in the direction of her own room. Night was beginning to fall, and she was tired. Normally on Wednesday nights, Renata and Lisa would to a bit of training. Renata had always believed that is was necessary to learn more skills than her job as a scientist included. Lisa said that it helped sharpen her own skills. No matter what reasons they gave each other, every Wednesday night the two of them would meet in Lisa's room to practice. However, with everything that had so far happened, Renata found herself too out of it to work. Even as she was thinking this, she tripped over her own feet, falling to the floor.

Ironically, it was her fall that saved her life. Something whirled over her head, and something metallic clanged off the wall to her right. Pushing herself up to a half-crouch, Renata ran, springing behind a wall. She heard the sound of running footsteps, coming closer. Renata came into a fighter's crouch, fists at her sides, protecting her ribs.

A figure darted around the corner, and before they had a chance to do any more, Renata threw a punch. The figure's head was snapped back, and they fell.

"Ow! Renata?" Lisa pushed herself off the floor, rubbing her jaw. "What?"

"Lisa? What were you doing…?" Renata sputtered off. She could believe Lisa had shot at her.

"I was just looking for you. I didn't know if you were up for practice tonight or not!"

"And so you _shot_ at me?" Lisa's eyes widened in shock.

"Shoot you?" She exclaimed. "I never shot at you! I don't even have a gun on me!"

Renata stared at Lisa. How then…If Lisa hadn't shot her…

Lisa was already on her feet, rushing back into the hall, searching for whoever might have shot at Renata. Renata however, crouched down next to the area she'd fallen, searching for the bullet. She didn't find it at first. She found in lying on the ground, farther in front from where she'd fallen. She looked at where it had fallen, and compared it to where she had been.

Lisa ran back, winded. "Wha-what did you find?" She panted out. Renata gestured at the bullet.

"I was farther back than this." She explained. "Why did my would-be assassin shoot it farther ahead from me?" Lisa shook her head.

"They didn't." She told her, getting her breath back. She pointed to the left-side entrance to the hall from where Renata had first entered. "They must have first shot from there. The angle is right. It was meant to hit you in the back. Apparently you avoided it, and it continued traveling until it hit the wall, a foot or so from you." Looking at Renata, she added. "Although it must have been pure luck that you avoided it."

"I tripped." Renata admitted. Lisa grunted, tossing her braid over her shoulder. "Well, I've learned it's better to thank luck if you survive, and not complain about _how_ you were saved." Renata smiled at that. She could think of a few situations where that wasn't true, but felt it was better not to bring that up right now. She slumped tiredly against the wall. The near-death experience had worn her out.

Lisa sensed this, and pulled Renata to her feet. "Can't be lying around right now." She told her. "One assassination failed, that usually means another is coming." She nodded towards her own room and added. "You can sleep in my room tonight. Probably be safer anyway." Renata nodded, allowing Lisa to lead her off.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: I tried to bring in a bit of the timeline here. I definitely want there to be some references to the ME story, even if this doesn't intersect (Although they might. I'm still try to work that out) Anyone have any idea how a random, patchwork ship could survive a Reaper?_

"What I don't get is why I was targeted." Renata said. She and Lisa were sitting in the latter's room, waiting for the others to arrive. The night had passed without an incident as far as they knew. Still, the assignation attempt earlier still left Renata shaken. She had no idea why anyone would try to kill her.

"Well, I can only think of one thing in the past few days that might have warranted such actions." Lisa told her matter-of-factly. Renata thought about it. The only real things she'd done in the past few days was research on a moon, and on Reapers, and present her finding to…

"…The Head?" She asked, aghast. The Head could have a mean streak, but she was by no means a killer. It seemed impossible to even contemplate.

"Well, unless someone is upset about you researching funny moons, I don't see any other real possibility. I mean, why would anyone else target a random Cerberus scientist? I'm certain this all is linked to these Reapers."

"-And I would like to know why Renata has now been branded as a rouge Cerberus scientist that is to be shot on sight." Another voice cut in crisply. Eden walked in, followed by everyone else, each having their own measure of worry and curiosity painted on their face.

"The message came in this morning," Rachel explained. "Claiming Renata a 'traitor' to all of Cerberus."

"Someone tried to assassinate her yesterday." Lisa explained. She picked up the bullet that had previously been lying on her table, and passed it to Eden.

Eden frowned as she studied it. "Assassin weapon." She confirmed. "Looks like an assault rifle."

Renata was shocked. "You can tell that all from the bullet?" She asked.

"No." She said. "I can tell it was a small bullet, usually used by assassins. The fact that you were shot at confirms that. The fact that the bullet is warped in one area suggests it skidded across something, meaning this was shot at a distance. That fits an assault rifle. It's a favored assassin's weapon." She passed it back to Lisa. "It's a guess only, but I'm pretty sure it's an assault rifle."

"So who's the assassin then?" Charlie asked. She was impressed by Eden's deduction skills. However, she thought identifying the assassin's

weapon wasn't nearly as important as identifying the assassin itself.

Renata shrugged. "Never saw him." She replied.

Ethan snorted. "'Him'? Sexist much?"

"'_It'_ then." Renata corrected.

"The assassin isn't as important as who sent '_it'_." Lisa said, stressing the word carefully. "I already know who I suspect, but I'd like to hear everyone else's opinions too."

"The Head." Eden said shortly. "Renata was in the center of our base, which makes it that much less likely it was a random assassination. Plus, she was the one who talked to the Head about the Reapers, and as she so put it, she never told the Head about the involvement of the rest of us. Also, I doubt Renata being labeled as a traitor is because she misspelled something in her report."

Ethan nodded. "That's some pretty damning evidence against the Head. I agree."

Rachel and Daniel nodded in agreement.

"That's what I thought also." Lisa confirmed.

Charlie gave a sigh, and dropped onto the bed. "Much as I'd hate to admit it, I agree too. I can't think of anything else." She said ruefully.

Lisa breathed out loudly, thinking. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, Renata obviously can't stay here." Rachel pointed out.

Renata raised her hand. "Appreciate if everyone stopped talking about me as if I'm not here."

"Sorry." Rachel said to Renata. "So do you have any ideas?"

Renata chewed her bottom lip, thinking. "Well, warning the Head didn't turn out so well, so the next question is, who _can_ we talk to about this?"

Silence followed her question as everyone thought about it.

Finally, it was Daniel who responded. "I know of only one other group who really has an idea about Reapers and all these going-ons." He said slowly.

"Shepard and his crew." Renata confirmed.

"Wait a second. You aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Eden asked, watching the back and forth between the two of them.

"Depends on what you think we're suggesting." Daniel answered.

"You intend to-to go and _find_ Shepard? Do you even have the slightest clue of _where_ he might be?" Eden exclaimed. "Do you even know if he's still _alive?_ I've heard rumors of his death."

Daniel nodded. "He died." He confirmed.

"So then why are we going after a dead man?" Ethan asked. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not go chasing the dead. Last I knew, that involves my own death too."

Daniel said. "I said he _died_. I didn't say he is still dead."

"That goes with the whole died thing." Lisa said. "Last I checked, people who die normally don't come back from the dead, except in cheap horror movies."

"It wasn't normal circumstances." Daniel stated.

"Are you going to tell us what you're talking about or not?" Renata blurted out. Dan looked at her with his half-grin.

"What happened was that Cerberus created a top secret project known as the Lazarus Project. It was supposedly for bringing someone back from the dead." He paused dramatically. "It worked."

"Wait, _what?"_ Rachel exclaimed. She'd been sitting quietly, listening to everything, but now she couldn't stay silent any longer. "Bringing someone back from the _dead?_ How is that even _possible?_ Why haven't we heard about it before?"

"What part of 'top secret' don't you get?" Daniel stated, unfazed.

"So…do you know where he is?" Renata asked cautiously optimistic. Daniel shook his head.

"Not really, but it would make sense for him to eventually return to the Citadel, if only to let them know he's still alive, and scare them to death."

"So let me see if I've got your plan right." Eden interjected. "We steal a ship, run to the Citadel, ask to see Shepard, and everything will be all fine and dandy?"

"Something like that." Dan said, half-grinning again.

Eden shrugged. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go steal a ship!"


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn was coming slowly, revealing a shadowy landscape and the Cerberus encampment, made up of one to two story buildings, crouched in the dusty wind, silent in the desert landscape. The wind, already becoming warm as faint figures slowly moved…

"Shh!" Eden hissed, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the empty expanse. Charlie winced, slowly removing her foot from where it had bashed against the side plating of the building. Luckily, no one noticed. Mostly because at such a low priority science facility, nothing more than a few alarm systems were set up.

Normally, these might have been a problem. However, there normally wasn't someone hacking into the mainframe to shut them down for about an hour.

"How much further?" Renata asked quietly, coming up behind the two of them. The others were stretched out in a long line behind them, trying to move as quietly as possible. Alarms might be down, but a random person who was wandering around could possible spot them. Or, in Charlie's case, hear them.

Eden decided they'd made enough noise to last a lifetime. She simply pointed to the long building ahead of them. They only had one more building to pass before they reached it. Now if Charlie could become less accident prone in that time, they'd all be happy.

She led the way again, slowly creeping forward towards the building. She'd taken the same path endless times before. However, those other times she hadn't been trying not to be seen or heard. She looked up again at the large glass windows above them. At any time, a person could just chance to look out and see them sneaking past. That alone would convince someone that they were up to nothing good. Having a so-called Cerberus traitor with them…?

Eden suddenly found herself less than enthusiastic about windows.

An agonizing ten minutes later, they reached the building. Eden pushed at the door, but it didn't budge. "It's locked."

Daniel turned to his Omni-tool. He typed away at something for a moment, and then the doors slid open. Eden stepped inside, favoring his with a smile. "You're a genius, you know that, right?"

He grinned back, and everyone else crowded inside, looking around.

It was smaller than most hangers, with only five aircraft, and only two really designed for space flight. The two of them were wedged in the back. They were relatively small as most ships went, designed for under fifty people, and operable with less than ten.

Picking the one on the left, the side closest to them, Eden started forward, motioning for the others to follow. They were halfway across the room when they heard the doors open behind them. They all dashed into hiding. Renata and Rachel ducked behind one of the vehicles, while the others dodged behind the nearest plane. Eden peeked out. Two people were entering.

"-Think someone forgot to lock these doors again." One voice said, gesturing to the door. The other shrugged.

"We'll worry about that later, Jack. Right now, let's make sure those 'locals' don't intend to go biting someone's head off, eh?" The first one, Jack, snorted. Eden realized that the two of them were heading right for the group of them, and while Lisa, and herself, and possible even Renata could fight, there wasn't that good a chance they'd get both of them. The best chance they had now was to run.

"Come on!" Eden shouted, taking off in the direction of the spacecraft. The others followed her in a mad dash. As Eden had hoped, the other two were momentarily taken by surprise, before the second one started forward, shouting to Jack to raise the alarm.

Eden jumped inside the ship, the others only a moment behind. Charlie was the last one in, and quickly sealed the door. Ethan moved to the front of the ship, sitting at the helm.

"You know how to operate one of these things?" Lisa called to him. Eden realized she'd never planned for something like that, and didn't know if _anyone_ in their little gang knew the first thing about flying a ship.

Luckily, it seemed Ethan did. He nodded, and in a few short moments, had the ship gliding forward, much to the shock and fright of the second man who'd been chasing them. Their relief however, was short lived.

"How are we going to get the doors open?" Renata asked. Daniel turned to his Omni-tool, but he already knew that it was going to be a race between the ship, and his skills. Lisa, realizing this too, looked around the bridge. "Does this thing have any weapons?"

Charlie looked up from where she sat. She'd fallen into the seat after the run, glad for a chance to rest her legs. "No, this isn't a battle cruiser." She said. She wasn't sure of the technical term for ships that didn't have weapons, or the technical terms for ships in general. For her it was pretty much, here's ship, go fix.

And then the doors opened as people started to crowd in. Ethan swerved slightly to avoid them, and accelerated slightly, shooting out the doors, and into the open skies.

A victorious cry rang out from the group of them, and a little clapping. Ethan, a wide grin on his face, steered them higher, breaking through the planet's thin atmosphere, and into the black void of space.

"Aaand, setting course for the Citadel." Ethan sat back, a look of satisfaction on his face. "So. We snuck through a high security base, stole a ship, escaped with everyone intact, am I missing anything?"

"First, it wasn't a high security base," Daniel started. "Second, we were nearly caught, third-"

Ethan sat up, a hurt look on his face. "But when you say it like that, it doesn't sound so dramatic!"

Suddenly, as if his words had triggered it, a red light started blaring on his screen. He jumped in shock and turned to it. "We're in trouble."

Renata came up behind him, glancing over his shoulder. "What sort of trouble."

He glanced back at her. "The kind that comes in the form of pursuit."


End file.
